The incidence rate is less than 0.3%, but it may cause blindness: "Youth Keratoconus Charity Fund" was established in Pudong
"I was diagnosed with keratoconus in the second year of junior high school. I have worn RGP for more than 10 years. I am worried every day that if my cornea is perforated one day, I will have to have a corneal transplant..."
When Xiao Jiang was 14 years old, he was diagnosed with keratoconus. However, due to the family's financial situation and the limitations of medical technology at the time, he could only rely on custom-made RGP to help him see. However, simply wearing RGP cannot treat keratoconus. For many years, the family was worried about Xiao Jiang's future.
On September 15, on the 9th anniversary of the establishment of Shanghai New Vision East Eye Hospital, the hospital officially became a designated cooperative unit of the Juvenile Keratoconus Public Welfare Fund, and juvenile keratoconus patients in Pudong New Area and even in Shanghai have a bright new hope. After comprehensive analysis and evaluation by the public welfare fund and hospital experts, Xiao Jiang became the first recipient of the Juvenile Keratoconus Public Welfare Fund at Shanghai New Vision East Eye Hospital. After the trans-epithelial corneal collagen cross-linking surgery, he achieved good visual effects.
It is understood that the global incidence of keratoconus is about 0.05% to 0.23%. It is an eye disease characterized by corneal dilation, central thinning and forward protrusion, and a cone shape. The disease often occurs in adolescence, and the younger the age of onset, the faster the disease progresses. If it is not treated in time, it often causes high irregular myopia, astigmatism and varying degrees of visual impairment, and even blindness in severe cases. However, if it can be detected early and corneal cross-linking treatment is performed as soon as possible, the vision level of teenagers can be better preserved and the family can be spared unnecessary pain.
The Juvenile Keratoconus Public Welfare Fund is a public welfare project that focuses on providing financial assistance to adolescent keratoconus patients. Its main goal is to provide necessary medical assistance to adolescent keratoconus patients with financial difficulties and help them get timely and effective treatment. It is reported that in addition to becoming a designated cooperative unit of the Juvenile Keratoconus Public Welfare Fund, Shanghai New Vision East District Eye Hospital has also become a designated medical institution of the Shanghai Pudong New Area Elderly Foundation, providing higher quality ophthalmic medical services to more elderly people.
According to the hospital director, Shanghai New Vision East District Eye Hospital was established in 2015 and moved to Lujiazui in 2021. Over the past 9 years, the hospital has continuously improved its service level and successfully created the "Five-Heart Elderly Service" model, which will continue to contribute to the development of the city's eye health and medical industry.